April This and That

As April draws to a close, I have to say we have just experienced the best spring we've ever had here.  Lots more sunshine, lots less rain, a few crazy warm days that gave us a little preview of summer days to come, and a much needed break from school. 

First of all, I ran a 10K.  The only reason it's worth mentioning is because it was so horrible!  HORRIBLE!!  It was the most poorly organized race I could ever imagine.  My friend told me about it at the last minute and the only reason I ran it was for the opportunity to run across the brand new, never been opened to traffic, 520-Bridge, which is the longest floating bridge in the world.  It sounded cool!  But it wasn't.  13,000 runners (mostly walkers) decided it would be cool too.  That's a ton of people to fit in three lanes of road without starting off in waves, and they only had one lane blocked off for the return runners.  It was like the organizers never thought about the fact that all the runners would eventually turn around therefore needing equal space for runners going in each direction.  I got tired of walking and dodging oncoming runners as I tried to pass the slow runners so I finally turned around.  But at least I got a shirt.  And an experience that makes me want to swear!

The mass of humanity preventing me from moving forward faster than a snail

The boys enjoying the sunlight streaming through the windows as they delay getting ready for school

Parker, Landon, and I finally walked through the woods behind our house that connect to a park.  It was a fun adventure crossing the stream and blazing a trail through the ferns so we repeated the adventure the next day and packed a picnic lunch for the park.

After such a strenuous hike, the playground had to wait so we could eat lunch

It's been fun seeing what blooms in our yard in the spring.  I have no idea what this bush is but it is beautiful!

The boys haven't spent much time in the hot tub until lately.  Turns out they'd rather swim when the sun is shining which is the opposite reason we bought it.  We like that it gives them something to do on a rainy day.  Plus Randy's back needs it as well.

Randy put in a new fire pit so this little part of the yard is even more fun!

With the warmer weather the boys and I decided to check out the ponds across the street to see if we could catch any turtles or frogs.  They came home empty-handed and very disappointed.  The frogs sure are loud at night so they've got to be around somewhere.

Landon was determined to find a fish while Parker sat by wearing a lacrosse glove.  Why not, right?

I love the occasional lunch date with my friends.  Parker is always my shadow and sometimes cooperates enough that I can enjoy myself.

A beautiful spring evening at the park

We had a picnic in the backyard while Randy and Marcus were at the Priesthood session.  We haven't used our cool beach mat in a long time!

Sammamish City Council

I channeled my inner Kevin Bacon and spoke in front of the city council to contest the pending development that will go in at the end of our street.  The developer is asking for all kinds of variances so he can fit 22 houses on 2 acres of land.  It makes me sick just thinking about it, not to mention all the traffic that will go through our once quiet neighborhood.  I have to say it felt awesome to speak and makes me want to run for office!  But I won't.  I'm hoping to get Randy to do it instead.

What a month we've had!  Now if only I could post a little more frequently so each post isn't such  a photo overload.